Jobs with Equality

Economic and social shifts have led to rising income inequality in the world's affluent countries. Redistribution can help, but government revenues are threatened by globalization and population aging. A way out of this impasse is for countries to increase their employment rate; this enlarges the tax base, allowing tax revenues to rise without an increase in tax rates. The question is: Can egalitarian institutions and policies be coupled with employment growth?

Lane Kenworthy is Professor of Sociology and Political Science at the University of Arizona. He studies the causes and consequences of poverty, inequality, mobility, employment, economic growth, and social policy in the United States and other affluent countries. He is author of In Search of National Economic Success (1995), Egalitarian Capitalism (2004), and articles in various social science journals.